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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27922051">Digits</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baxter54132/pseuds/Baxter54132'>Baxter54132</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AB (After Breakup) [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Adventure Time</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, F/F, They still love each other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:54:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,300</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27922051</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baxter54132/pseuds/Baxter54132</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of Sky Witch, Marceline and Bonnie are on track to repair their friendship. Marceline wants to text Bonnie, but realizes the number she has for her is out of date. She'll go to any length to get the new number. Anything, that is, except for asking Bonnie for it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Princess Bubblegum/Marceline</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AB (After Breakup) [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2033209</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>101</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Digits</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This takes place shortly after Sky Witch. I can’t imagine that Princess Bubblegum and Marceline kept the same phones and numbers over the course of 500 years, but in Princess Day we see them texting away. I feel like new numbers would have to be exchanged somehow. I also want something a little more lighthearted after the first two fics in this series. If you haven’t read those yet please go check them out!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>503 AB</p><p>Marceline seeks Bonnie’s help in rescuing Hambo out of pure desperation. In the heat of the moment she can’t think of anyone more capable than the scientific nerd, and she knows she can’t get Hambo back alone. She doesn’t really expect Bonnie to agree to help her, so she’s more than pleased when the two go off a new adventure together and find success.</p><p>She doesn’t dwell on Bonnie’s acceptance to aid her much during their mission, she only contemplates it fully when she hovers over her bed later that day. Hambo is firmly nestled in her arms and she rocks him gently. He doesn’t deserve anything that happened today.</p><p>Marceline deserves it though; with all the pranks and trouble she causes. It was about time for someone to put her in her place. Thankfully Bonnie stepped in to save the day. A girl who she vowed to never speak with again just 350 years prior. Finn brought them back into each other’s lives, though Marceline was the catalyst for today’s events. Bonnie had asked questions about why they were going, but in the end agreed to go. She could have easily said no.</p><p>Marceline rolls onto her side and sighs deeply, does it mean something that she didn’t say no? Is Bonnie ready for them to be friends again? Is Marceline?</p><p>She’s not ready to answer that. They got along well during the mission. It almost… well, it almost felt like they had never broken up. A shiver tremors down Marceline’s spine as she remembers what drove them apart. What if they can finally heal from that?</p><p>It’s worth a try. Marceline reaches over to her nightstand and picks up her blue phone. She should send Bonnie a message thanking her for her help. Back in the day, Bonnie always appreciated being thanked, way more than Marceline ever has. She clicks into her contacts and scrolls down to the B’s. She clicks through the letters, frowning as she realizes that the famous Candy Princess is missing from her list. How did that happen? She scrolls down to P just in case it’s under Princess, but no such luck.</p><p>Marceline has changes phones a couple times over the years, but she always puts her contacts back in. She wonders when she deleted Bonnie’s, bitterly disappointed that she can’t remember.</p><p>No matter, Marceline always comes prepared. She floats off her bed and touches down with her feet. She gets down on her hands and knees next to the bed, pushing the sheet up to grab a box which has been shoved under. The box is rather beaten up from multiple moving’s. Every time Marceline moves, she brings it with her, always storing it under her side of the bed. It might be time to swap the box for a new one, but Marceline is nothing if not stubborn.</p><p>She opens the lid and is met with a small stack of photos. On top lies a piece of paper which has been folded in half. Marceline plucks the paper out of the box, not sparing the photos even a single glance. She doesn’t want to see them. She unfolds the paper and is met with sweet sweet success. <em>Bonnie</em> is scrawled messily at the top followed by a ten digit number. Marceline clicks new contact in her phone and enters P Bubs and the number to go with it. She knew this would come in handy. She clicks new message and starts to type.</p><p>
  <em>hey Bonibellllllllll</em>
</p><p>
  <em>JK jk I know you don’t like to be called that</em>
</p><p>
  <em>nyway this is Marceline, I’ve changed my number so you probably don’t have this one</em>
</p><p>Marceline pauses for a moment, she wants to see if Bonnie will say hi back. About a minute ticks by with no response so she keeps going.</p><p>
  <em>just wanted to say thanks again for your help today, hambo appreciates it too!!!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I was wonderin if you wanted to have a jam sesh or something this weekend? like old times? </em>
</p><p>Marceline decides to leave it at that and drops the phone back on her nightstand, she’s been up all day and is exhausted so it’s time for a quick power nap. She lies back down, one eyes still on her phone. It’s completely still, hasn’t buzzed even one time. She picks it up again after a moment.</p><p>
  <em>if you don’t want to that’s fine too, just lemme know</em>
</p><p>Great, not desperate sounding at all. Marceline returns the phone to its original position and falls into an uneasy sleep, still hoping her phone will beep and draw her from her slumber.</p><p>Marceline sleeps all night and quite a few hours into the next day. When she finally wakes it’s around 11:00 AM, her schedule all thrown off due to Maja. She can’t bring herself to care, her first priority being on her phone. She scoops it up and clicks to turn on the screen. <em>0 new messages. </em>Her heart plummets. Nothing from Bonnie?</p><p>Maybe they didn’t mesh as well as Marceline thought. Maybe Bonnie hates that she was dragged out there, and even though they’ve spoken a couple times no longer wants anything to do with Marceline?</p><p>It’s weird for her not to respond, back when they were together Bonnie always responded, even if they were in a fight. Maybe something is wrong.</p><p>Marceline goes to Bonnie’s contact and punches the button to call. She brings the phone up to her ear and is immediately met with an unusual beeping sound. It beeps ten to fifteen times and then sings, “This line is out of service,” and disconnects.</p><p>Marceline lowers the phone and stares at it blankly. How could she be so dumb, of course Bonnie doesn’t have the same number that she did 500 years ago. Disappointment gnaws at her and she frets at her lower lip.</p><p>The solution to this is simple, Marceline needs to ask Bonnie for her new number. It’s only been a day since they last saw each other, surely it’ll be a quick and casual exchange.</p><p>What if it’s too soon to ask though? Sure, if Marceline already had it that’s one thing, but to physically ask Bonnie for the number is an aggressive move. What if Bonnie thinks she’s being too bold and it ruins what they’ve rebuilt?</p><p>The risk of that is too great, Marceline will have to get the number from elsewhere.</p>
<hr/><p>After much thought, Marceline can only come up with one person who not only has the information she seeks but will also share it with her. She heads to her old treehouse first thing and is pleased to see her target lounging in the bath. He is facing away from the window and hasn’t noticed her.</p><p>She turns into a bat and squeezes into one of the many secret passageways she built, entering in the living room and fluttering up to the bathroom. She makes sure to be silent as she goes, despite coming here to ask for a favor she can’t pass up on the opportunity to spook her friend.</p><p>She transforms and hovers a few feet off the ground, putting on a wicked smirk. “Hey Finn.”</p><p>Much to her joy, Finn nearly leaps out of the bath from shock, spinning around as he jumps. His eyes are wide in terror, but when he realizes who’s there, he relaxes back into the water. “Oh, hey Marceline. What’s up?”</p><p>Marceline internally pumps herself up, she’s got this. “Oh, you know… I was just in the area and thought I’d drop in. How’s it hanging?”</p><p>Finn splashes the water towards her playfully. “It’s good, Jake and I just got back from the Candy Kingdom! Jake is downstairs baking cookies and after this we’re going to eat them. Do you want to hang with us?”</p><p>Marceline shrugs, “I’m okay, thanks.” She licks her lips nervously. “Sooooo… I was wondering, do you have Bonnie’s number by chance?”</p><p>“Of course I do!” Finn nods earnestly and taps his right fist against his chest proudly, “I’m at the Princess’s beck and call. If she ever needs me, there I am!”</p><p>Normally Marceline finds this type of behavior annoying, but Finn always comes across as endearing. “That’s great! Can I get it? The one I have for her isn’t active anymore.”</p><p>She expects Finn to agree easily, so she feels a prickle of annoyance when he hesitates. He glances down at the water. “I don’t know Marceline, PB’s number is hers, it’s not mine to give away.” His eyes shift up to meet Marceline’s, “Aren’t you guys friends? Why don’t you just ask her for it?”</p><p>“Ugh, I can’t.” Marceline crosses her arms. “I….” she grimaces at Finn. He’s waiting patiently for her to respond; he’s always been so good at caring for others. “I don’t want to talk about it, if you won’t give me the number then I’ll find another way.”</p><p>Marceline turns into a bat and flies off without another word, not stopping even though she can hear Finn call after her.</p>
<hr/><p>Marceline’s next option is to try and get into Bonnie’s phone. If she can get it she can message herself and then use that to add her as a contact. It’s not as easy to sneak into the Candy Kingdom as to speak with Finn, but desperate times call for desperate measures.</p><p>She takes a quick power nap and leaves her cave once the sun has finished setting. Bonnie usually has dinner with her candy citizens, and most likely the phone will be left unattended to in her room. Marceline transforms into a bat and enters the kingdom undisturbed, once again reminded how incapable the banana guards are. It doesn’t take her long to fly to the kingdom. Bonnie’s lights are off in her room, which is a good sign.</p><p>Marceline enters the window at the highest point and lands on the ceiling of the room, peering through the darkness to make sure she’s alone.</p><p>The room is empty, so she transforms and drops down to land softly on her feet. Bonnie’s room hasn’t changed much in the past 500 years. Same bed, same drapes which Marceline always found excessive, and same mess. She’s always in the middle of some elaborate science experiment, and today is no different. Bonnie’s desk has a large tray with sand on it, and there appear to be small creatures running around in the sand.</p><p>Marceline doesn’t want to know, and honestly, she doesn’t care. Next to the experiment she hits the goldmine, as Bonnie’s pink sprinkle colored phone is laying face down on the table.</p><p>Marceline lifts off the ground to a low hover in order to remain silent and floats over to the desk, claiming her prize. She grasps the phone in her right hand and lights up the screen.</p><p><em>“Insert the passcode</em>”</p><p>Passcode? A keypad pops up underneath the words with the numbers one through nine on them. The phone is locked. Bonnie never used to lock her phone. Marceline’s heart pangs as she realizes there are probably more things that have changed since then, things she wasn’t there to witness.</p><p>This is their fresh start. Marceline tries 1, 2, 3, 4, and the phone beeps at her and flashes, “<em>Incorrect combination.”</em></p><p>This is going to be more difficult than first anticipated. Marceline tries a few more combinations, but no dice. Knowing Bonnie, she probably used science to determine the most obscure number possible, one that could never be guessed. If that’s the case Marceline doesn’t have much hope.</p><p>She has two choices. The first is to steal the phone and return home with it. Then, she’ll have more time to figure out the code and can always return it later. The second is to stay there and just brute force it, if Bonnie comes, she can always flee into the night.</p><p>Stealing the phone is out, even if she gets the code right later, if it’s gone Bonnie will just replace it and she’ll be back at square one. So, she decides to keep guessing.</p><p>After fifteen or so additional guesses the phone gives her a new warning error. “<em>Number of allowable incorrect attempts has been exceeded. Phone is now locked for the next 24 hours.” </em>A countdown at 24:00 starts below it and starts counting backwards. Uh oh…</p><p>Option one is starting to sound better and better, but she knows that it’s futile. Marceline places the phone gingerly back where it was. She starts to hover away but realizes after a moment she forgot something. She scoops the phone back up and wipes her shirt with it, making sure to remove all fingerprints. Bonnie is a genius, albeit a huge nerd, and will surely check for them.</p><p>With the phone back in place she transforms into a bat and flies out the window she came in. Her options are running thin, and she’s starting to think that maybe fate is against her on this.</p>
<hr/><p>Marceline loops back to Finn and Jake’s treehouse, maybe with a little more convincing she can get it from Finn. This time, she’ll go in the front door and be civil. That should show them she has nothing but good intentions.</p><p>She reaches the treehouse after a few minutes, but her plan is cut short when she sees Jake chilling in the grass in front of the house. He has a cookie in hand and is staring at it thoughtfully.</p><p>Marceline is pretty sure Jake doesn’t have a phone, but maybe he can help convince Finn. She descends from the sky towards him and as her shadow casts across his legs he glances up and waves at her. “Hi Marceline.”</p><p>“Hey Jake!” Marceline lands in the grass next to him and sits down so they’re side by side. “You’re up late.”</p><p>“Yeah well, someone’s gotta eat the rest of these cookies.” Jake holds up aforementioned cookie. “Bombs away.” He pops it into his mouth and starts chewing. “Scho, what’re ychou doing hchere?”</p><p>He’s hard to understand through the cookie, but Marceline gets the gist of the question. “I actually came to see Finn, is he still up?”</p><p>Jake chews for a moment longer and swallows. “Nah, he went to bed about 30 minutes ago. He said you were here this afternoon, is this about the Princess again?” Jake turns towards her, his expression open and non-judgmental.</p><p>Marceline groans in irritation, of course he told Jake. “So what if it is?” she says defensively. “If he’s asleep I’ll come back tomorrow.” She should hover away at this point, but something on Jake’s face keeps her there.</p><p>He looks at her for a moment longer before glancing up at the moon. “The stars are bright tonight.”</p><p>“Yeah… they sure are.” Marceline looks up as well. The moon is nearly full, and the stars twinkle all around. There’s nary a cloud in sight, one couldn’t ask for a better night to go stargazing.</p><p>She gets lost in the sky, but Jake’s next words pull her out of it. “I know how hard it can be. Expanding your boundaries, trying something new, asking someone for something.”</p><p>Marceline laughs bitterly, interrupting him. “You don’t know what I’ve been through.”</p><p>“You can tell me. I haven’t lived as long as you, but I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs.” Jake leans back against his hands, “Or we can sit in silence, either is fine with me.”</p><p>Marceline purses her lips and leans back as well. The offer to indulge his request is tempting. Jake has always been trustworthy, and always given Finn and herself good advice. There’s no reason to think he can’t do the same now. She takes a deep breath and slowly exhales. “Bonnie and I go way back, and I mean like waaaaaaaay back. We met about 600 years ago and we were together.”</p><p>Jake is listening patiently, so Marceline continues. “Things went sideways, and we broke up. Now that we’re talking again, I wanted to invite her over, but the number I have doesn’t work.” She sighs, “Finn suggested I ask Bonnie for her new number, but honestly Jake, I’m scared. I don’t want to reverse all the progress we’ve made this year.” She lies down flat on her back in the grass with a loud oomph, “And now you know my dirty secret, please don’t tell Finn.”</p><p>Jake lies down as well, his arms and legs sprawled out in each direction. “I would never.” He rolls his head to the side to face her. “I won’t say your fear isn’t valid, but it’s something you need to overcome. How do you expect your friendship to continue to grow if you can’t ask for something so simple?” Jake raises his arm and pokes Marceline in the cheek firmly, “You can do it; I believe in you.”</p><p>“Thanks friend.” Marceline swats Jake’s hand away from her face but gives him a warm smile. “You always know what to say.”</p><p>-</p><p>Emboldened by Jake’s pep talk, Marceline immediately flies back to the Candy Kingdom. She’s afraid that her courage will evaporate if she waits until the following day.</p><p>Upon arrival, she’s pleased to see that Bonnie’s light to her room is on now, meaning she’s adjourned for the evening and is getting ready for bed. She flies into the window frame, pausing there to observe the room.</p><p>Bonnie is at her desk, wearing a casual pink dress and her tiara. She has her phone in hand and looks quite frustrated as she taps fervently on the screen. Marceline’s gut drops when she realizes this frustration is her own doing from earlier that night. No need to fill Bonnie in on that little secret.</p><p>Marceline raises her right fist and raps on the side of the window twice, calling Bonnie’s attention to her. The pink haired princess looks up in surprise, nearly dropping her phone. “Oh, hey Marceline!” She smiles at her, causing a new set of butterflies to jet through Marceline’s stomach.</p><p>Marceline pushes them aside and floats into the room, smiling back despite her nerves. “Hey Peebs, how’s it going?”</p><p>Bonnie’s expression shifts to a deep frown. “Not good actually, I’m not sure what happened but my phone is locked out!” Her eyes shift to the sand experiment with the creatures running around on it. “Maybe they did it?” Her eyes light up. “That would actually be marvelous! Oh, I wonder if I can get them do it again.” Bonnie places the phone face up in the sand and takes a step back. The tiny creatures make no action to move towards it. “Oh well, maybe later. So what can I do for you Marceline?”</p><p>Marceline laughs nervously, partially because she knows that the creatures will never input numbers on her phone, and partially because now she’s the center of Bonnie’s attention. “Not too much, I just…” Marceline remembers Jake’s words and takes a breath, “I wanted to thank you again for your help with Hambo. I went to text you, but I realized I don’t have your current number.” Marceline draws her phone from her back pocket, “Can I get it?”</p><p>Marceline flinches subconsciously as she waits for a response, but her dread fades away when Bonnie’s face lights up in excitement. “Oh, sure!!! Here let me put it in.” Bonnie motions for the phone so Marceline hands it to her. “Oooh, this is so exciting, we can message just like…” She trails off, her smile faltering.</p><p>“Like the old days.” Marceline finishes the sentence for her. “Bonnie… I know we aren’t what we were back then, but I’ve missed you. I hope we can be friends?”</p><p>Bonnie’s smile is back, and her eyes are shimmering with what might turn into tears. “I’d like that.”</p>
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